George Washington Univeristy Police are sworn police officers, not security officers. This is just an issue about giving them extended jurisdiction. Most police departments around the nation have overlapping jurisdiction agreements so they can operate a certain distance into another agencies area.

FTFA:Susan Lampton, who has lived in Foggy Bottom for 15 years, welcomed the added campus police protection and would like it to return. She said student parties have gotten louder and more disruptive. But she said it's embarrassing to trouble District officers with nuisance crimes. "Maybe there's a rape across the city and I'd rather have them go to that than my noise complaint," she said.

Click Click D'oh:George Washington Univeristy Police are sworn police officers, not security officers. This is just an issue about giving them extended jurisdiction. Most police departments around the nation have overlapping jurisdiction agreements so they can operate a certain distance into another agencies area.

Right.

It would seem in this case that the District police can't or haven't been able to properly administer their duties in those neighborhoods around GWU. The other option is to increase taxes and have greater police pressure in the areas adjacent to the campus. But I doubt the people who live there think they should have to pay for their peace and quiet, so instead they will ask the university to take the extra measures being discussed in the article.

"We have no interest whatsoever in enforcing any criminal laws off campus," Gruber said. "I would like to be able to go off campus, as a university official, and interact with students who are causing a disruption.

Um...

If a disruption is loud enough to warrant an authority response, isn't it already going to be violating peace/decency laws?

So what he meant was:"We have no interest whatsoever in enforcing any criminal laws off campus," Gruber said. "I would like to be able to go off campus, as a university official, and enforce criminal laws due to students who are causing a disruption."

Why the fark does GWU need a campus police force? It's not an isolated campus located in the middle of nowhere, it's a few city blocks in the densely populated center of one of the largest cities in America.

Allowing campus police to have jurisdiction (other than "hot pursuit") off campus is a terrible idea. For one thing, unlike a city/county/state police force they are not answerable to any elected higher power; for another, they have a totally different set of priorities than a local police force does.

The off-campus folks who have problems with GW students should call the DC cops like everyone else does. The general DC public that are not students at GW should never have to interact with a GW cop unless they are on GW property.

Target Builder:Why the fark does GWU need a campus police force? It's not an isolated campus located in the middle of nowhere, it's a few city blocks in the densely populated center of one of the largest cities in America.

The answer should be "NO" and the reason if the local towns/citys had a brain, is "liability".If the city allows the university rent-a-cops to operate off campus then they are leaving the city open for lawsuits and other claims against them or in joint with the campus.

Why is it that every type of "police" organization is trying for more and more powers of enforcement and the tools and equipment to do so, while still intentionally employing those with low IQ's and can legally defend why they discriminate to do just so? I'm confused!

My campus cops were real cops... kind of. They were actual police, but they also took "protect and serve" seriously. As in, they "served" campus by "protecting" us from county cops that would occasionally show up to bust a party. It was a relief on more than one occasion to hear one of those guys say "we'll take it from here".

I've been on both sides of these sorts of disputes in my life and no issue is black and white. We had drunken parting and fighting in my apartment building last week and the police were involved. I've also gotten complaints for having a shower at 1 AM. I told my landlord that he can stuff it and fix my fixtures/plumbing if there is a problem but there is no way I'm going to bed without a shower after a shift in a brewery.

People often forget that for every loud asshole there is always one busybody who can't stand the slightest indication that other human beings exist.

I've never been on a college campus where the "rent-a-cops" weren't an actual police force.

But, whatever. I'm sure you have a point. The cops on campus shouldn't have police powers in the surrounding neighborhood full of students because reasons. I'm sure you wouldn't also piss and whine about taxes going up if they paid a million or two to expand the local police's size instead.

wildcardjack:In Texas the state university cops are licensed peace officers with jurisdiction in any county their employing university has a campus.

Yeah. All of the 4-year University of Wisconsin system schools have their own police forces. Sworn officers, not just security people.

It makes Madison kind of amusing. In this mid-sized city, there are 4 different sworn police forces with jurisdiction if you stand in the right spot. City of Madison, Dane County Sheriffs, Capitol, and University of Wisconsin.

When I was an undergrad, I had parties busted by both GPS and Metro PD... frankly, there was no difference between the two -- they both said, "Whoa, cool lighting effects" and "try to keep it down", and both refused my offer of a beer.

The BIG difference between the two is that the larger parties, such as "Rally in the Alley" didn't hire off-duty campus security to sit outside in their patrol car to prevent larger security action. Instead, it wasn't uncommon to see a marked police cruiser out front while the party raged out back.

There's a much easier solution: where you have problem tenets, just go through all the efforts that people do to combat crack houses... keep detailed evidence as to the issues going on, and file a small claims court suit against the owner of the property. Problem solved.

dali's perspective:Wait, this is a new problem? Didn't the college students have late, loud parties in the 90's, the 80's, the 70's, the 60's, the 50's.........

I was at GWU in the early 90's and I remember leaving a party on 25th street, walking behind some bushes, and taking the longest leak of my entire life. Midway through I heard muffled screaming and when I looked down I realized I was pissing on some poor woman's basement apartment window.

It was awkward, but I powered through and finished. Sometimes once the dam breaks there's just no stopping.